King Mackerel off Anna Maria Island: The Mile Reefs and the Spring Run

Anna Maria Island has the most small-boat-friendly kingfish water on this coast, because Manatee County's artificial reefs step conveniently offshore like mile markers: the One Mile Reef in about 25 feet, the Three Mile reefs around 30, and the Seven Mile reefs at 40-plus, all reachable from Kingfish Boat Ramp — a name that is not a coincidence — on a decent spring morning in an open skiff.

The spring run arrives when Gulf water climbs through the low 70s, peaking in April, and the fall run in late October usually brings the heavier fish. The playbook is bait first: sabiki or cast-net threadfins and blue runners, then slow-troll them over the reefs on stinger rigs, a lead hook bridled in the nose and a trailing number 4 treble in the back, on one to two feet of number 4 or 5 single-strand wire.

Kings cut mono; wire is not optional. Stagger flat lines at distance behind the boat, run one bait down on a downrigger, and watch for surface skyrockets — kings launching clear of the water through bait — to tell you where to turn.

Anna Maria Ledge, a natural bottom break about ten miles out in 46 feet, holds fish when the shallow nearshore reefs go quiet, and the bait schools at the mouth of Tampa Bay off Bean Point load up with kings in both runs. Keep drags light for the first blistering run and clear the other lines fast. Cast-net or sabiki your own live bait on the first stop.

Gulf regulations for 2026 here: 24-inch fork-length minimum, three fish per person, open year-round; verify at MyFWC. Bleed and ice keepers immediately, and note the mercury guidance on big kings; the 10- to 15-pound schoolies are the better table fish anyway.